Code Geass: When Worlds Collide
by Krysta Ashleigh Parker
Summary: Ashleigh Li Britannia is sent undercover to find a student linked to Zero. But what happens when she discovers it is her brother then begins working with him, while at the same time falling for Suzaku, the Britannian soldier? OCxSuzaku Rated T to be safe
1. Chapter 1: Meeting with the Emperor

It was early morning when I heard my door open. I heard it because I couldn't sleep- I was too nervous. When I'm nervous, I have a habit of not eating, not sleeping, and having trembling hands. Right now all three of those habits where going on. Why? My father wanted to have a private meeting with me. Now I bet you're saying to yourself, **big deal, so you're dad wants to talk to you. GET OVER IT. It's not that big of a deal. **Well for me it is. You see, I am Ashleigh Li Britannia and my father is the Holy Britannian Emperor. Britannia is a country who controls 1/3 of the entire world, so my father is a man or great power, importance, and of little time. So to want to have a private meeting with me means something BIG is happening, and I doubt it's good.

"Mistress, are you awake? I have the dress you requested yesterday." The speaker was Regina Watson, a girl my age who was forced to work for the imperial family to pay off her father's debts. I disproved of her calling me mistress, and that she was working here and not in school, but I couldn't say anything lest my father got word of it. I gave the red-haired girl a smile before running a hand through my own dirty blonde-hair. Thankfully I had washed it last night so it was smooth and silky. Without speaking, I walked behind the changing partition on the opposite side of my apartment-sized bedroom. Fully awake and alert, I quickly pulled off the satin nightgown and stood naked in the room for a moment, letting the cold air caress my body tenderly. Regina passed my undergarments over the partition; she was on the taller side like me. I was clasping my bra strap when Regina spoke again. "Mistress, I heard the other servants talking, and I know what is happening with you. Would you like me to tell you?"

"Please," I answered, not skipping a beat. Regina was like my personal spy- no one thought to watch what they said when she was around, she was just a chamber maid they thought, so she would always tell me interesting things she picked up on.

"Well, from what I understand, the Emperor is sending you to Area II undercover. I think it has to do with the Black Knights."This information made me pause for several moments while putting on my dress. Area II, formerly Japan, surrendered to Britannia in a great war 7 years ago. The Japanese, now officially called Elevens, had been pretty peaceful for most of the time, but recently there were several terrorist attacks, starting with Shinjuku. During the Shinjuku attack, my half-brother and Area II ruler was murdered. Originally thought to be honorary Britannian Private Suzaku Kururugi, the murder was revealed to be a masked terrorist named Zero- who claimed the act as his when he "freed" the soldier from being captive. However, Kururugi came back on his own free will and was claimed innocent during a jury. Zero soon announced to all of Japan during a terrorist attack by another group which he stopped, to be the leader of the Black Knights, a now powerful resistance group. My half-sister Cornelia, known as the Ares of the family, is now ruling Area II and trying to capture him. I was deeply puzzled- how did any of this have to do with me? I was no spy, I was no warrior (although I am very capable of using a knightmare frame, thanks to Cornelia), so how could I help?

I by now had finished putting on my jewelry and my makeup, so I looked in the wall length mirror that was placed above the golden dresser by my bed. My sparkling blue/green eyes looked back at me with a distant look, as if I was uninterested in everything. My long dirty blonde hair I left long, letting it hang to just above my waist. The deep, rich purple dress fell just above my knees, and hugged my figure despite that I saw myself as stick-like with almost no butt and moderate boobs. The dress looked nice with the subtle jewelry and black pumps I wore. Deciding I looked presentable, I turned away from the mirror and walks towards the door to exit my bedroom. My hand grasp the large iron handle, turned it, and then pushed against it. The door opened without a sound, and I slipped out.

Before I knew it, two armed guards were opening the large brass doors which contained the throne room. With my head held high, my hands clasped tightly in front of me to hide the trembling, I walked onto the purple satin carpet and made my way to the throne seem to loom in the distance. Peering out the corners of my eyes, I checked out the usually crowded room. The room was enormous- probably one of the largest in the castle, and was probably the most lavish one too. 99 paintings were hung up around the room, each one of a different Holy Roman Emperor, including my father. Speaking of father…

I approached my father warily, and looked up at him on his throne. His hair was white, and he had wrinkles on his forehead, however he did not look old. His entire face was cold and calculating- there was no warmth in his eyes, and no smile upon his face. It was as if he was looking down at someone who had murdered a close family member and not a family member themselves.

"Good morning father-"

"Is it? This bloody situation in Area 11 is keeping me from my work! I need this bothersome problem to end! And you're going to help end it," my father said in a deep growl. I was taken aback from the gruff manner in which he spoke to me, but there was nothing that I could do or say about it.

"How can I help amend the… situation?"

"We have received intelligence that Zero may be connected to a Britannian student at Ashford Academy, but we do not know which one. You will go undercover as a Britannian noble student, and look for anything suspicious. Since you have not made your royal debut, only Cornelia and Euphemia will recognize you. You will report specifically to Cornelia if anything suspicious arouses information. Understood?"

I nodded to my father, realizing that I would be "employed" by my father for the foreseeable future. "Yes father, understood. When should I begin packing?"

"Your bags were being packed as we spoke. You will leave immediately. Now, be gone, and do your best. This problem must be dealt with before it causes me to be apart from my work any longer. God grant you mercy if you fail, for I won't." And with that, I was dismissed.


	2. Chapter 2: Milly Ashford

**_Hiya people :) Sorry there was no Suzaku or Lelouch in my last chapter, but maybe there will be cameo for of them in this one... if I'm nice. Enjoy!_**

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><p>My olive green boots with a slight heel made a light clicking noise as I walked down the airport hallway, trying to find my way to the entrance. I had changed on the plane into my boots, navy blue skinny jeans, a pink t-shirt, sunglasses, and had put my hair in a bun. Thank god I did- pushing the cart with all my luggage would have been torture if I was still wearing the dress! Anyway, I continued making my way down the hallway, gazing at the posters on the walls advertising luggage and other travel necessities, and the Jap- the Elevens. The Elevens were all doing the custodial jobs, jobs of no importance. Normally I wouldn't have cared, but these Elevens looked <em>happy<em>. I guess Zero has given hope to everyone, which in a strange way impressed me. But I quickly shook that thought from my brain- Zero is a _terrorist_, killing many people, including my brother. No one like that should be admired or anything.

"Excuse me, are you Ashleigh Kuran?" It took a moment for the name to register. Ashleigh Kuran, my alias while being a regular noble. I kept Ashleigh since no one would connect royal blood to it, and I changed Li Britannia to Kuran because Kaname Kuran was my favorite character, a vampire, in one of my favorite mangas. I quickly smiled to the girl my age, hoping she wouldn't notice the strange pause.

"Yes, I am. You must be Mildred Ashford-"

"Milly, if you'll please. Mildred is so- gross," said the girl with a laugh. She ran a hand through her shoulder length blonde hair and winked one of her blue eyes at me. I could instantly tell she must be very, if not the most, popular girl at the High School by the fact that she had an outgoing vibe and was very pretty. I laughed with her.

"Alright, Milly it is! So you are the principle's granddaughter? You must be pretty busy then, I hope I'm not keeping you from anything."

"Oh please," said Milly with a dismissive wave of her hand as she emphasized the word as PUH-lease, "you're not at all. In fact, this is a great way to meet my new roomie!" Milly bumped her waist against mine as she reached to take two of the four of my bags. This news both shocked and pleased me- Milly was certainly a friendly girl, and if she was popular she would know everything about everyone and could help immensely with the search for the Zero involved student- without her knowing of course.

"Well roomie, sounds that this will certainly be interesting!" We walked out of the airport and into the parking lot. We walked passed rows of BMWs and other expensive looking cars until Milly stopped at a yellow convertible and clicked a button on her electronic yellow car key. "So yellow's your thing?"

"You noticed huh? Darn, and I tried so hard to keep it hidden," Milly said with a good-natured roll of the eyes. I rolled my eyes back. She rolled her eyes again. I rolled my eyes. She rolled hers. I rolled mine. Milly held out her hands in surrender position.

"Ok ok, you win! I feel dizzy- ugh!"

"Recognized." Milly raised an eyebrow at me as she hopped into the driver's seat and me into shotgun. We had thrown my luggage into the trunk. "It's a Britannian thing. When one person owns another, it's what you say," I offered as an explanation. Milly cocked her head thoughtfully as she carefully backed out of the parking spot, then peeled out of the airport lot on the highway.

"I like it. It's catchy. Remind me to use it."

"Totally."

"You're pretty good as a roomie so far, Leigh."

"Do explain."

"The nickname or the observation?"

"Either- both." I was genially curious. I had known Milly for a total of ten minutes and all I could tell was that she was popular, friendly, a bad driver (speeding and disregard for red lights among other things), and- I venture to guess- a gossiper. Also, no one had ever given me a nickname before. It was seen as highly disrespectful for anyone but royalty to give royalty nicknames, and my family wasn't the informal warm type. However, I wasn't like my family- I liked it!

"Well first for the name, Ashleigh is pretty but way too long. Ash reminds me of dirt which is disgusting, so Leigh it is! As for my observation- I'm going to go all Sherlock Holmes on your butt. Firstly, your bags fit perfectly and don't appear to be stuff. Given that you have four bags and are a stylish dresser, I bet each is filled to the top with clothes. To be able to close them perfectly, they have to be arranged perfectly- meaning you're organized. Secondly, as I said before, you're stylish, and pretty, which means all the boys will come to us," she purred, winking at me. I raised my eyebrow but didn't say anything, letting her finish. "And finally, we seem to mesh. How's that for deductive reasoning?"

"Spot on, Holmes," I said in a fake English accent. I was impressed. Yes, I am organized. Yes, I have gotten looks from princes and boys before, but none had ever dared to flirt with me because of my status. And yes, we did seem to be meshing well. I could easily picture Milly becoming my best friend. She's obviously smart, funny, and friendly. What more does anyone need in a friend? "Does this mean I am Dr. Watson?"

"Depends- opinion on plaid?"

"It needs to be erased from existence."

"Very good, my dear Watson," Milly praised me, mimicking my fake accent. "Now shut up- this is my jam!" _Sexy and I know It_ by LMFAO began blaring through the car's radio. Milly and I gave each other a look, then began singing along at the top of our lungs. I have to say, I felt free for the first time since I was little. If in the castle I had been thinking of boys, singing at the top of my lungs, and not worrying about being proper, I would have probably be punished….or disowned. Crazy right?

Pushing my sunglasses from off the top of my head to cover my eyes, I looked to my right, resting my elbow on the top of the door and my chin on my hand. Wind blew through my hair, keeping me cool, and the sun began working on giving me a soft glow. The buildings of Area II seemed to whirl by in a flash of color, and I felt a sense of peace wash over me. Area II- amazing. The name wasn't however. I made a promise to myself that I would call it Japan to myself, since Area II was such an awful name for such a wonderful place.

"Ms. Kuran, I understand that the school system in Britannia is different than here in Area II, so your school schedule will be different from the other students here since you have already completed most of your required courses. Here," barked Lady Ashford, handing me my schedule. I eyed Lady Ashford, sizing her up quickly. She looked like an older version on Milly, still pretty, still in shape. However, she had no warmth like Milly did. Her eyes were blue sapphires, beautiful but cold, emotionless. Her skin had wrinkles from age without laugh lines; her grey hair was cropped close to her face. Her hands showed tension like claws and her lips were pressed into a firm line. To be honest, not trying to be mean, looking at her depressed me, so I concentrated on reading my schedule instead. I heard Lady Ashford get up from her seat and walk towards the big window behind her desk overlooking the campus. "You will have World Affairs class every school day except Thursdays from 10:30 am to 12:00 pm, Cooking class as your elective from 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm, and you have Equestrianism as your sport from 7:00 am to 9:00 am every school day. Your lunch period is from 12:00 to 1:00, and you may go off campus whenever you don't have a class, but you must sign out and in from the main hall. You're dorm is #1 in the girl's wing. Any questions?" I shook my head no. "Good. Now head to your dorm. I don't know where you and Mildred went on your way over here, but it's nearly 10 o'clock and you have early sports. That's all."

I quickly left the room and closed the heavy oak doors to her office with a discreet smile on my face. Milly had decided that we should stop at the mall before going to the campus, which resulted in us being four hours late. At least it was worth it- totally fun and awesome new clothes. I backed up from the doors and turned around. The corridor was dark and pretty creepy. I could barely see my hand when I stuck it out in front of me. Everyone must be in bed. A nervous giggle bubbled out of my lips, and I clasped my hands close to my ribs. _Get over girl, there's no one there. Come on, don't be such a baby _I chanted to myself. Ever since the incident with my Aunt, I never truly was the same…

**THUD! **I jumped from the loud noise which seemed to echo through the empty hall. Feeling a sense of panic, I round the corner quickly. I could see the door to my room at the end of the passage. I was about to speed up even more, when something connected with my shins, and I began going down.

"HOLY !" I screamed-whispered, throwing my arms in front of my face, readying myself for the hard floor to hit my face. Yet, the pain never came. Instead, I felt myself being held inches above the floor. It was very dark, but I could make out a face of a guy with messy brown hair staring down at me.

"I'm so sorry! Are you ok?"

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><p><strong><em>Who is the mystery man? Guess you'll find out next chapter, but it's pretty easy to guess ;) ReviewsPMing me is greatly appreciated! It means someone likes my story which gives my incentive to we write faster :) Anyway hope you loved it! ~Krys~_**


	3. Chapter 3: Suzaku Kururugi

_**THUD! **__I jumped from the loud noise which seemed to echo through the empty hall. Feeling a sense of panic, I round the corner quickly. I could see the door to my room at the end of the passage. I was about to speed up even more, when something connected with my shins, and I began going down._

"_HOLY !" I screamed-whispered, throwing my arms in front of my face, readying myself for the hard floor to hit my face. Yet, the pain never came. Instead, I felt myself being held inches above the floor. It was very dark, but I could make out a face of a guy with messy brown hair staring down at me._

"_I'm so sorry! Are you ok?_

"Yeah I'm fine. Who are you? Why are you out so late? What was that noise? Who are you?" My words came out fast and I stumbled over them. My heart was beating fast, pounding against my chest.

"Do you always ask so many questions?" Thank god the hallway was dark so the mystery guy couldn't see how tomato red my face turned from embarrassment. I could feel the heat on my cheeks grow very strong. I guess my panic was making me have word vomit, or whatever the term for it was. At least the guy's voice had a joking tone instead of an annoyed one.

"Sorry- guess I wasn't expecting to hit some random stranger in a dark hallway. Next time I'll do it with more composure," I said sarcastically, but laughed at the end so he could tell I was joking. He laughed with me, his voice attractive in some weird sense. A sense of calm washed over me- this was just a regular school boy and not a murder or creepy stalker. Stupid imagination…

"Good," said the boy, unintentionally breaking my train of thought, "anyway to answer your questions in order, I'm Suzaku Kururugi. I just got back from duty because I'm a soldier in the engineering core. My backpack split so all my books feel out with a thud. I was kneeling over to pick them up when a girl ran into me and I caught her…" Suzaku trailed off, realizing that he was still holding me. He loosened his grasp, but I didn't move. I was in shock. This was _Suzaku Kururugi_. He wasn't _just _a soldier. He was the soldier accused of murdering my brother. Also, he is a Kururugi. He must be the son the rebel resistant leader Kururugi who fought for Japan's freedom before committing suicide. This poor guy must have a lot on his mind.

Suzaku cleared his throat awkwardly. My face probably turned even redder as I finally slipped out of his strong arms and righted myself. Suzaku stayed down to pick up his books quickly before standing up like me. My eyes vainly tried to read the titles of the books, but it was too dark so my eyes flicked to Suzaku himself. I'm pretty tall, but I could see the outline of his figure and it was taller than mine! The urge to tell him that was he pretty tall came to me, but I pushed it away and decided it was time to leave before I further embarrassed myself.

"Well I should go, but thanks for catching me. Guess I'll see you around." I walked to the end of the hallway to where my room's door was. I had my hand on the brass doorknob when his voice pierced the silence.

"Wait! What's your name? I don't recognize you."

"Ashleigh- Ashleigh Kuran." And with that I slip into my room, locking the door after me.

"WAKE UP YOU SLEEPY HEAD! RUB YOUR EYES AND GET OUTTA THAT BED! DING DONG THE WICKED WITCH IS DEAD! SHE'S GONE WHERE THE GOBLINS GO BELOW! BELOW BELOW YO HO-"

"ARRRGH SHUT UP! Why in God's name are you singing? What are you doing?"

"Effectively waking you up," Mill answered with a sly smile, before throwing back the blinds. However, the effect was ruined given that it was still dark out. My eyes were attracted to the red glowing 5:00 on my alarm clock. Two hours until my riding lesson officially started- joy. I liked riding fine, I took it since I was five in Britannia, but not so early in the morning. I groaned because I did need to get up, but I was definitely more of a night owl than an early worm. Unwillingly I rolled onto my back and looked at the dark ceiling. Milly hadn't turned on the lights yet- she was trying to make her way over to the switch without hitting her shins on anything- so shadows covered the dome ceiling. The darkness made the room look different then when it was lit up. It seemed… mysterious. Not creepy or menacing, but like it had a second side to it that no one knew.

Milly flicked the lights on, temporarily blinding me. Letting out a noise which was a mix of a groan and sigh, I slithered out of my comfy warm bed and felt the cold air wrap itself like a blanket around my bare legs and arms. A shiver ran through me as I glanced at Milly, who was sitting cross-legged on her bed, looking at me expectantly.

"Er something wrong?"

"Nope," she said, popping the p with her lips.

"Then why are you staring at me?"

"Just wondering why someone pretty would want to get on the back of a big smelly animal."

"Hey! Horses aren't smelly!" Milly ducked and laughed as she dodged a pillow I'd thrown at her. She reached to grab it and retaliate, but before she could I escaped into the bathroom and locked the door. The sensors in the room turned on the bright fluorescent lights. The purple walls gleamed which reminded me of my home in the Britannian castle. Before I could become homesick- I hadn't even been gone a full day- I hopped into the shower.

Soon the warm water was running pleasantly down my body and the apple scented shampoo I was lathering my hair with made the entire luxurious bathroom smell delectable. As my hands massaged my scalp and lathered my hair again for the "repeat" of the shower cycle, my mind took me back to last night.

_The door behind me closed with a loud click despite trying my best to make it silent. It wouldn't have mattered though- Milly was sitting on one of the purple plush chairs in the dark obviously waiting for me. I could faintly make out an apologetic smile on her flawless face._

"_Sorry for getting you here so late Leigh. I hope my grandmother didn't give you too hard of a time."_

"_No, not at all," I swiftly replied while I began taking off my clothes to change into my black pajamas. Milly tactfully looked away from my half-naked body, instead fixing her eyes on her blue painted nails._

"_Well good then. I guess the clothes were a good idea then! By the way- who were you talking to in the corridor? I heard voices right before you came in," Milly focused her big blues eyes back on me as she trailed off. She, without waiting for an answer, slipped under the covers in her king sized bed and looked over at me with a keen look. I absentmindedly ran a hand through my hair as I got into my bed._

"_Suzaku Kururugi- I tripped over him by accident. He's the soldier-"_

"_-Yeah I know. He's on the student council with me. Suzaku's a great guy…and pretty cute," she said with a sly smile at me," don't you think?" Her words seemed a bit teasing with real interest. I had to laugh and give her a crooked smile._

"_Couldn't tell Ms. Nosy," she laughed so I paused then continued, "it was too dark. Anyway we better get some sleep. I don't fancy falling asleep on the back of a horse at seven in the morning! And I doubt your grandmother would condone you yawning in your classes. Goodnight, Mills." _

_Milly snickered before closing her eyes and rolling onto her left side with her back towards me. "'Night Leigh. See you bright and early!"_

By 6:00 am I was walking through Ashford Academy's campus to get to the riding stable. The sun was not yet in view, by the sky was light enough that I could see without the aid of the campus lampposts. The morning was a bit chilly with a breeze causing the tree's branches to shake and the leaves to fly around in the air. The birds flying overhead ceased their chirping in favor of focusing on flying with the breeze.

As I walked on the red brick path that began leading me away from the campus buildings, I wrapped my grey scarf around my neck tighter to keep my hands from trembling. They wanted to tremble because of a mixture of the cold and my nerves. I wasn't the most outgoing person, the Britannian guards that usually surrounded my 24/7 made sure of that, so I was anxious about meeting the other riders. What if they were a lot better than me? What if I made a fool of myself? What if they ignored me? What if they didn't like me? All these thoughts were swirling around in my head as I reached the stable.

The stable was magnificent. It was a large wooden barn, two stories. The bottom story had windows where the horses in the stalls were sticking their heads out of. There was a large staircase leading from the end of the graveled area to the top story where I ventured to guess the riding lounge and office were located. There were two large pastures to the right of the stable, and a large outdoor ring to the left. Behind the stable I could make out another large building- probably the indoor riding ring.

"Excuse me, are you Ashleigh Kuran?"


End file.
